(The Center Square) – Favorability for businesses making choices and observers with rankings to choose North Carolina remains strong.
Site Selection magazine, headquartered in Georgia, picked North Carolina third behind Texas and Georgia in the annual survey of Top 10 Business Climate States. The publication was made in the November magazine.
Charlotte was No. 2 and Raleigh No. 5 in the Best Cities for Headquarters listing. Dallas led the list; Atlanta was third and Nashville fourth to round out the top five.
A third listing was Top Workforce Challenges of the Coming Decade. Labor shortages was the leader followed by affordable housing; upskilling; child care; lack of soft skills; global competition; a tie for seventh was labor management relations and rising income inequality; and a tie for ninth was remote work and STEM education.
STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Winning an award from Site Selection is not new. It was No. 1 for the same award in 2021. And last May, North Carolina’s three-year reign as No. 1 for the Prosperity Cup ended with a No. 4 behind Georgia, Indiana and Texas.
Since 2010 when Republicans gained majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly for the first time in 140 years, North Carolina has steadily increased and consistently raked in awards related to business climate and economic development. Policies to help businesses has been a steady drumbeat, often times getting laws passed via override of gubernatorial veto.
The America’s Top States for Business, as done by CNBC, has included a No. 2 in 2024 and No. 1 in 2022 and 2023. Best State for Business, as done by Forbes, includes No. 1 in 2017, 2018 and 2019 with no new rankings since in part because of the COVID-19 era.
Business Facilities magazine placed North Carolina No. 1 in both 2020 and 2022.
Area Development magazine in 2024 named North Carolina a Silver Shovel Award winner. In these rankings, multiple states can be named to a level. North Carolina previously won Gold Shovel (2018, 2021), Silver Shovel (in 2009, each year 2011 to 2017, and 2019 and 2020) and Platinum Shovel (2022, 2023), missing just one listing over 16 years.
The Tax Foundation named North Carolina No. 12 in October in its State Tax Competitiveness Index, and No. 10 the year before.